The Untaxables

America’s tech giants, including Microsoft, Google and Apple, are as good at dodging the taxman as they are at building businesses

Outside the city hall in downtown Olympia, a crowd had gathered to vent its
anger. The capital of Washington, the northwest American state which is home
to Microsoft and Boeing, is not known as a hotbed of political activism, but
that changed on a bright Saturday morning last month.

In the face of repeated attempts to slash disability benefits, ordinary voters
came together to protest against the planned cuts and the woman who ordered
them.

A champion of gay rights and same-sex marriage, Christine Gregoire became the
darling of the Democrats during eight years as governor of Washington.
Until, that is, she began her austerity blitz.

To reduce the healthcare deficit, Gregoire has waged a two-year battle to cut
the amount of home help the state provides to the disabled. John Lemus,
president of the action group People First of Washington and the organiser
of last month’s protest, says the